Air Force secretary nominee Troy Meink testifies March 27, 2025, during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — Troy Meink, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Air Force, told senators Thursday that he will focus on technical innovation and workforce retention if confirmed as the next secretary for the service.
Meink, an Air Force veteran who runs the Pentagon’s National Reconnaissance Office, said competitors such as China are in some cases evolving faster than the U.S. and will eventually result in “us losing our technological advantage.”
“We need to innovate faster,” he told the Senate Armed Service Committee during his confirmation hearing.
Meink said space capabilities would be a top priority under his leadership, calling it one of the areas that the U.S. is most challenged by other countries. A highly skilled workforce will be key to fielding the most complicated systems, he said.
“The Space Force is in the process of growing,” he said. “I will support that activity to make sure we have the right numbers and the right skillset.”
Meink said he will also examine the Air Force’s struggle to retain pilots.
The Air Force last year said the service was short by 1,848 pilots, including 1,142 fighter pilots. The shortage means pilots graduating from training courses with the T-38 Talon supersonic jet might be required to fly non-fighter or bomber aircraft, the service said.
Meink said the Air Force has had difficulty keeping enough pilots since he was a navigator in the service decades ago. Raising pay will only go so far, he cautioned.
“We need to make sure, not just with pilots but across our highly skilled areas within our workforce, that they have the opportunity to do what they’ve been trained, what they love to do,” Meink said. “I think that could be a bigger impact on maintaining some of these highly technical skillsets, like pilots and others — letting them do what they were trained to do.”
Meink entered the Air Force in 1988 through the ROTC program at South Dakota State University. He began his career as a navigator and instructor for the KC-125 refueling tanker and flew more than 100 missions in the Gulf War.
He later worked as the lead engineer for the design and evaluation of ballistic missile test vehicles for the Missile Defense Agency, according to the Air Force. He served as the undersecretary of the Air Force for Space from 2013 to 2014.
In 2020, Meink was appointed by Trump as the principal deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office, the federal government’s spy satellite agency.
Meink’s tenure at the agency came under scrutiny last month after Reuters reported allegations that he steered a multibillion-dollar satellite contract to Elon Musk’s SpaceX company by changing the contract requirements in a way that made SpaceX best suited to fulfill it.
Trump nominated Meink for Air Force secretary at the recommendation of Musk, according to Reuters.
Sens. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have expressed alarm over a potential quid pro quo between Meink and Musk, a billionaire businessman who has taken a prominent role in the Trump administration.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., makes remarks on Thursday, March 27, 2025, during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee to consider Troy Meink to be the next secretary of the Air Force. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
“These reports raise concerns about your ability, if confirmed as secretary, to treat contractors fairly and prioritize the Air Force’s mission over Elon Musk’s business interests,” the senators wrote in a letter to Meink last month.
Those worries did not come up at his confirmation hearing Thursday.
Meink received a positive reception from the Senate committee, with Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., praising Meink’s experience.
“We have a lot of work to do to ensure that the Air and Space forces own the skies and stars,” Wicker said after meeting with Meink last month. “[Meink]… understands that air and space power are essential to America’s military rebuild under President Trump.”
